Team by team: How Barcelona's F1 shakedown went for the 2026 field
The complexity of F1's 2026 rules overhaul is such that teams requested an extra shakedown on top of two three-day tests in Bahrain to prepare for the start of the season in Melbourne in March.
The new power units, with a much bigger reliance on a more powerful electric MGU-K system, caused such nerves that they requested the Barcelona shakedown behind closed doors, with Bahrain also understood to have paid for the privilege to host official winter testing.
Regardless, any apprehension about teams being stuck in the garage or F1 power units going up in smoke turned out to be overblown. The overall conclusion from the five-day shakedown event, of which teams were allowed to pick three for testing, was that the new regulations era has gotten off to a remarkably smooth start, unlike the last major engine overhaul in 2014.
Mercedes and Ferrari particularly stood out with their reliable and productive start, while Red Bull's manufacturer era got off to a cautiously impressive start and Adrian Newey's first Aston Martin design caught the eye of many observers upon its delayed arrival.
Lewis Hamilton led the timesheets ahead of George Russell, but as there was no real performance work being done on the cold Montmelo layout and teams will likely bring a more evolved specification of their cars to Bahrain and the season opener, any reference to lap times is utterly meaningless and should be treated with distrust.
Photo by: McLaren
McLaren - 291 laps
What they did
McLaren delayed its MCL40's debut to Wednesday, forcing the world champion squad into a busy programme with three consecutive days of running. Its second day was hindered by a fuel system issue, which restricted Oscar Piastri to 48 laps, but both he and world champion Lando Norris enjoyed 80+ laps on Friday.
That is still some way off Mercedes' record tally, but there are no reasons to suggest McLaren has encountered any showstoppers. The Woking team did concede on Friday night that it still had a lot of work ahead to get on top of the new power units, especially the driving and set-up requirements of a more powerful MGU-K motor. That likely applies to every team to some extent, but it was still an intriguingly frank admission.
What they said
“While some small issues cost us mileage across day one and day two of running, the final day delivered exactly what we needed with both drivers completing extensive laps without any reliability concerns,
